OpenLMIS recently took an important step toward helping more countries achieve supply chain visibility and efficiency. Through signing a long-term agreement (LTA) with UNDP, OpenLMIS is now a globally pre-approved eLMIS software and eligible for country-level implementation with UNDP funding.
UNDP released its invitation to bid in December 2020, and as one of four software systems selected, OpenLMIS will now be able to bid on new UNDP funding as a pre-approved solution. This opens opportunities for OpenLMIS to reach more countries, more quickly and ultimately helping achieve the OpenLMIS vision that all countries have the logistics data they need to effectively manage their health supply chains, leading to healthier communities.
UNDP supports governments in low- and middle-income countries to improve the performance of their public health supply chains by enabling end-to-end visibility of supply chain data and establishing a culture of data use for continuous improvement. As a “Qualified LMIS Software Solution”, OpenLMIS is strongly recommended by Gavi and the Global Fund as a solution to improve supply chain data management. This is largely because OpenLMIS offers updated architecture, community support, standards and interoperability, and it can be configured to meet specific country needs.
Vitalliance was recently announced as the new OpenLMIS stewards, with a key aim to increase the use of OpenLMIS across the globe among governments and non-governmental organizations. UNDP’s footprint across Africa will assist Vitalliance to accelerate the development of new partnerships and opportunities, and achieve greater impact in improving the health of communities everywhere.
Another step towards improving the performance of healthcare supply chains in Africa comes in the form of OpenLMIS implementation partner, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), being awarded the contract by Gavi the Alliance to implement the installation of the OpenLMIS COVID-19 Module in Nigeria, for the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA). The system will be configured, deployed and training completed over a period of three months, between August and October 2021. In addition to ensuring the timely and efficient distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, the system will also help ensure that all vaccination sites have adequate stock and equipment.
This project aligns with Nigeria’s goal to immunize 70% of its 200 million population with COVID-19 vaccines by 2022, with ~42.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines expected to arrive in the country in the coming months. It is therefore essential that the country ensures and improves the availability, potency and safety of immunization supplies, as well as the overall efficiency of the supply chain.
End-to-end visibility of both supply and demand data is critical in this effort, and the objective of this project is to develop an open-source logistics management information system (LMIS) to achieve this. CHAI will hand the system over to the NPHCDA within six months of going live, with mentoring taking place through the contracted period.